Statistics South Africa’s report, titled “Capital expenditure by the public sector 2017”, held few surprises – especially happy ones – for practitioners in South Africa’s project economy. The report confirms that total capital expenditure (capex) by the 751 public-sector institutions that reported their capex figures to the agency decreased by R12.1-billion last year, from R283.3-billion in 2016 to R271.2-billion. It was the first year-on-year public-sector capex decrease since the 2009/10 fiscal year – the period coinciding with South Africa’s financial-crisis-induced recession. The decline put to rest government’s previous narrative of public-sector expenditure providing countercyclical support for an economy still struggling to recover from the crisis. The outlook is not covered in the report, but all signs point to a sustained period of downward pressure. Most of the State-owned companies (SOCs) are in financial distress, largely owing to years of weak management and corrupted governance, which facilitated a redirection of procurement budgets towards a predatory elite. The outlook is undermined further by most SOCs now having massive debt burdens to address and interest bills to manage. What does this mean for gross fixed capital formation and the domestic project pipeline? It means that any recovery will have to be led by the private sector. However, to achieve such a shift, investor confidence will have to be restored and sustained. Nevertheless, this second edition of the Projects in Progress for this year includes valuable updates on some of South Africa’s largest infrastructure projects, as well as ongoing investments in the gold, coal and platinum sectors.

Mining is one of Africa’s major export industries, with global affairs and evolving market conditions shaping the industry landscape. While Africa initially gained a reputation for its gold and diamond resources, the African mining industry is now also being recognised for its copper, cobalt, manganese and platinum group metals resources. This edition of Creamer Media’s Africa Mining Projects in Progress highlights some of the prospective projects on the continent that have been announced in some of these sectors, focusing on recent preliminary economic assessments, scoping, prefeasibility and definitive/bankable feasibility studies, as well as some of the projects that are already under way.

In what could be described as a lacklustre year for the platinum industry, 2017 saw platinum group metal prices plummeted in 2017, owing to a drop in gross demand, which fell by 2% to 8.17‑million ounces, leaving the market with a 250 000 oz supply surplus. South African producers have also faced the challenges of rising costs, regulatory uncertainties and safety stoppages, which have impacted on an already constrained global platinum market. Creamer Media’s Platinum 2018 report provides a global overview of the platinum market, with a particular focus on South Africa’s platinum-sector business and regulatory environment. The report includes commentary on the main participants in South Africa’s platinum industry, other platinum producers, and exploration and development companies.

Creamer Media’s Real Economy Year Book has been divided into separate reports under the banner Real Economy Insight, and investigates key developments in the automotive, construction, electricity, road and rail, steel, water, materials handling and logistics, pumps, coal, gold, iron-ore and platinum sectors. This five-page brief is a synopsis of key developments in the platinum sector over the past 12 months, which includes platinum developments in South Africa, the country’s major producers, major mergers, employment concerns and the regulatory environment, as well as the outlook for the sector.

Creamer Media’s Real Economy Year Book has been divided into separate reports under the banner Real Economy Insight, and investigates key developments in the automotive, construction, electricity, road and rail, steel, water, materials handling and logistics, pumps, coal, gold, iron-ore and platinum sectors. This five-page brief is a synopsis of key developments in the iron-ore sector over the past 12 months, including details of the global and South African iron-ore markets, with a particular focus on supply and demand, iron-ore producers and their projects, as well as prospects for the sector.

Creamer Media’s Real Economy Year Book has been divided into separate reports under the banner Real Economy Insight, and investigates key developments in the automotive, construction, electricity, road and rail, steel, water, materials handling and logistics, pumps, coal, gold, iron-ore and platinum sectors. This five-page brief is a synopsis of key developments in the gold sector over the past 12 months. It provides an overview of the global and South African gold market, including labour challenges, the silicosis class action law suits South Africa’s gold producers are facing, illegal mining, the gold price and outlook for the sector.

Creamer Media’s Real Economy Year Book has been divided into separate reports under the banner Real Economy Insight, and investigates key developments in the automotive, construction, electricity, road and rail, steel, water, materials handling and logistics, pumps, coal, gold, iron-ore and platinum sectors. This five-page brief is a synopsis of key developments in the coal sector over the past 12 months. It provides an overview of the South African coal markets, corporate activity and the role of coal in South Africa’s electricity generation.

During President Cyril Ramaphosa’s mea culpa social call on Desmond Tutu in May, the Archbishop Emeritus urged Ramaphosa to ensure that his much-vaunted ‘New Dawn’ did not turn out to be a ‘false dawn’. Without doubt, all well-meaning South Africans share Tutu’s sentiments. The overwhelming majority of citizens, including those in business, are desperate to see South Africa succeed economically and increasingly yearn for a more just, caring and equitable, as well as safer, society. Goodwill will be necessary, but insufficient to reignite growth- and job-stimulating investment. Trust and confidence remain fragile, and fresh uncertainty has also undoubtedly emerged as a result of the current debate about how best to proceed on much-needed land reform. It is up to government to take the lead in helping to rebuild greater resilience and confidence. The way it deals with the land debate will be a critical test, but so will its handling of issues as diverse as State-owned power utility Eskom’s sustainability, the next iteration of the Mining Charter and municipal competence. Without rapid and sustained progress across multiple fronts, Tutu’s warning of a false dawn could prove dreadfully prophetic. This publication aims to make a contribution, however modest, to building a platform for greater economic dynamism, focusing on developments in the automotive, construction, electricity, road and rail, steel, water, materials handling and logistics, pumps, coal, gold, iron-ore and platinum sectors. These sectors do not only feature in this edition of Creamer Media’s Real Economy Yearbook, but as separate reports under the banner Real Economy Insight.

The acceleration of restructuring in China’s steel industry and an increasingly aggressive environmental clampdown had a significant impact on the global iron-ore industry in 2017, and according to Australia’s Department of Industry, Innovation and Science, the sector is in for a bumpy ride in 2018. Creamer Media’s Iron-Ore 2018 Report provides an overview of the global iron-ore market over the past year, with particular emphasis on supply and demand, trade and pricing. Not only does it provide information on South Africa’s iron-ore market and its major producers, but also an overview of the major global iron-ore producing companies and other significant producers.

The signing of the long-delayed agreements for 27 renewable-energy projects in April, procured by the Department of Energy in 2015, is arguably the first tangible signal that ‘Ramaphoria’ may well be starting to have positive spin-offs for the embattled domestic project economy. What is needed now is for the various obstacles blocking the investment runways in the other key sectors covered in Creamer Media's Projects in Progress 2018 (First Edition) to be progressively cleared. This will require not only policy certainty but, in some instances, also an entire overhaul of the policies that are failing to create the confidence required to stimulate the investment needed to lift South Africa from its low-growth flight path.